Fire department receives Monsanto funding

Evan Punt, ERS Manager for Monsanto (left), presents a check to Kendel Frost, inspector for the West Fargo Fire Department, which will be used to purchase new firefighting equipment.

The West Fargo Fire Department has received $2,735 from the Monsanto Fund to purchase firefighting equipment consisting of 45 firefighter flashlights and a Rescue Training Dummy.

“This funding will provide much needed equipment for assisting in fire and rescue sitations,” said Assistant Chief Dell Sprecher. “With the rising fuel costs and mandatory expenditures, we are grateful for additional funding opportunities that Monsanto provides.”

“Monsanto is committed to supporting the communities where we do business,” said Evan Punt, Monsanto employee.

The Monsanto organization works closely with the West Fargo Fire Department in a number of areas – one of which is providing them with much needed equipment for emergency service towards the community. The other is having the ability to send one firefighter each year to Texas A & M University for training consisting of actual live burn scenarios, along with confined space rescue.

“This will provide excellent training, at a cost of $3,000, which would normally not be within the fire department’s budget,” Sprecher added.

The West Fargo Fire Department is a combination group that provides fire protection for the City of West Fargo as well as surrounding townships.

The Monsanto Fund is the philanthropic arm of the Monsanto Company. Incorporated in 1964, the fund’s primary objective is to improve lives of people by bridging the gap between their needs and their resources. The Monsanto Fund is focused on grant-making in four main areas: nutritional well-being through agriculture; science education, primarily on professional development for teachers; healthy environment, which includes conservation, protection of biodiversity, clean water and restoration of wildlife habitat; and improving the quality of life in communities where Monsanto employees live and work.